Page 22

HOLT

“Are you sure you wanna do this, son?” Dad’s voice booms through the speakers of my truck. “You’re opening yourself up to a whole new group of people. Showing them the real you. The actual person behind the fame, the money. You don’t need to do this unless you’re serious about it. You’re gonna expose your heart, and there’s always the chance someone will try to hurt you, make it about the money. Like they always do.”

“I’m sure about it.” I try to wipe the grin from my face, but I can’t. “She’s the one. ”

He snickers. “I know.”

My eyebrows lift. “You know?”

“Son, I knew the second you walked her out on that back patio. You gave her the look.”

“What look?”

“The look that says ‘I’ll never need another thing in life. Only you.’ Plus, you’ve been flitting around like a giddy schoolgirl who just got asked to prom.” He bellows at his own joke.

“Thanks for that, Dad,” I say with sarcasm.

“It’ll definitely be odd not having you with the family for a Labor Day cookout, but we all understand.”

I can’t believe I’m actually nervous. “What if her parents don’t like me?”

“Does her dad like football?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I think you’re probably good, then. Be safe. We love you.”

I pull up in front of the store. I’ve barely thrown the truck into park when I see her come out of the shop, trying to carry her overnight bags. One snags in the door, and she trips, busting ass. “Dad, I gotta go. Love you guys too.”

I get out and jog over to her, but Emily is already helping her up. Merit’s cheeks are rosy with embarrassment. Merit and I both thank Emily as she heads back into the store to help with a customer. I search over her body, looking for injuries. “Are you okay?”

“Just my knee.” She lifts a leg in the air, and we watch as some blood bubbles around a scrape.

“We need to go in and wash it off.”

She shoos me away, waving her hand in the air. “Oh, it’ll be fine. C’mon, let’s go.” It’s clear she’s super excited.

She tries to pick up both overnight bags, but I playfully slap her hand away and throw them over my left shoulder. “But you’re bleeding.”

“Oh, it’ll stop. It’s no big deal.” She takes a step in the direction of my truck and freezes mid-step. And for just a second, the old Merit takes hold. She turns back around, folding her hands in front of her and staring at the ground. “Holt, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about your truck. I don’t want to get it dirty with my blood. That was inconsiderate of me. I’ll go wash up.”

She moves to walk right past me, but I snatch her up. I dip down and sling her over my empty shoulder. Her upside-down laugh is contagious, and she has to push against my butt to keep from flopping around. My hands are tucked securely under her ass cheeks, holding her in place. I can’t help myself—I graze my thumb across the elastic of her panties. When we get to the truck, I don’t immediately put her down. I open the door and unload her bags first. Smacking her on the ass, I finally put her down. Her hazel eyes sparkle, the blues are really prominent today.

We both look down at my T-shirt. The front of it is smeared with blood. She cocks her head. “That might not come out, you know.”

I shrug. “I’ve worn dirtier things.”

She’s about to lean in for a kiss when we’re interrupted.

It was gonna be a good one too. I could tell.

I want to be mad at whoever decided to intrude on our moment, but it’s hard to do when I hear a little boy’s voice. “Excuse me, sir? May I have a picture with you?”

I turn around and see a young kid and his mom. “Hey, there. Absolutely. What’s your name, son?”

“Aiden.”

“Aiden, that’s a good name. How old are you?”

“Eleven.”

“Eleven. That’s great. Do you play football, Aiden?”

He nods proudly, sticking his chest out. “I just started this year. Special teams.”

I squeeze his shoulder. “That’s a tough job. Be sure to listen to your coach.” He nods enthusiastically. “And this is your mom?” I ask, nodding to the woman beside him.

The buxom brunette giggles. “Oh no, I’m his aunt.” She drags a fingernail across her cleavage before ruffling his hair. “Just spending some quality time with Aiden. Children are a blessing. I’m just soaking him in until my time comes.”

The look on Aiden’s face nearly has me rolling on the pavement in laughter. You can tell by his shocked frown that this has to be a babysitting situation and that she never spends time with him unless absolutely necessary.

She offers her hand, and I quickly shake it. “Stephanie. You can call me Steph.”

Why would I call her Steph? I don’t even know her and most assuredly won’t see her again after she leaves.

Ignoring her, I nod at the phone in Aiden’s hand. “Got the camera ready?”

Without my prodding, Merit immediately steps up. Bending down, she tells Aiden that she’d be happy to take the picture and listens intently as he gives her detailed instructions on how to use the camera, like it’s something that was just invented last week.

After my picture with Aiden, Stephanie announces that it’s time for a picture with both of them, and she quickly tucks herself against my side. Her manicured nails scratch down the back of my shirt. I discreetly shift my legs, pulling out of the way, when her fingers dip beneath the band of my shorts, right above my ass.

Eager to be done with the meet and greet, I reach in my pocket for a penny but come up empty. “Shoot.” I nod at Merit. “Can you check the console? I keep extras in there.”

She climbs into the truck, grabbing a shiny copper penny. She’s a little too quick for Stephanie’s liking, though. Stephanie barely has time to tuck the piece of paper with her cell phone number on it in my breast pocket. Pretending to ignore what she just saw, Merit bypasses me and hands the penny directly to Aiden.

He smiles wide. “Thanks so much.”

Standing tall, Merit folds her arms across her chest, glaring at Stephanie. Stephanie stares at Merit and then mimics her face, scrunched nose and all. “Yeah, I smell that too. I think some workers hit a sewer line somewhere down the road.”

I try to drown my laugh with a pretend cough, but I’m not a very good actor.

We climb into the truck the second Aiden and Stephanie walk away and start the drive to her parents’ house. “Emily’s working today?” I ask, questioning the obvious since I just saw her.

“Emily and Kim are both working the rest of the day. Kyra’s going to come in and close up for me.” Her voice is much more stoic than it should be.

She sits on her hands and stares out the window. Her leg, with the now-dried blood, bounces up and down.

Reaching into my chest pocket, I pull out the piece of paper with Stephanie’s phone number on it and hold it under Merit’s nose. “Care to do something with this?”

That brings back her wide smile. The one that makes my dick jump in my pants.

She lowers the window, and she’s about to toss the number out when she realizes that would have her littering. Raising the window, she looks around the truck, trying to decide what to do with the vile piece of paper. She spots an old, half-empty water bottle in the bottom pocket of the door. Opening it, she drowns the number inside. Quite satisfied with herself, she smugly sits back in her seat. “And by the way, I do not make a face.”

***

Merit talks the whole time.

And I mean the whole time.

I love it.

“Oh, I can’t believe I nearly forgot to tell you. I think I found the right person to hire.”

“Really?”

“She’s a high school senior, valedictorian of her class. She gets out of school each day at lunch, so she can work half-days any day, Tuesday through Friday, and she can work any Saturday I need her. Right now, she works at a women’s boutique downtown. They use the same point-of-sale system as me. Obviously, she’s really smart, so it should be a breeze teaching her how to shut down the system, set the alarm, and close up.” She looks over at me, lifting her eyebrows. “I think Emily is relieved.”

“That’s so good. When is she supposed to start?”

“She’s turning in her two-week notice at her other job today.” She points to a side road. “Turn here.”

Doing as she says, it’s clear to see we’re on the right road. As far as the eye can see, there’s fields of Bermuda grass, bright and green and thick. After a couple of minutes, we turn into the driveway, parking in front of a remodeled farm house. There’s a quintessential red barn next to it, and a few other buildings about a quarter of a mile away. “Mer, this is gorgeous.”

She smiles brightly, dulling my senses with her beauty. “Thank you.”

Right as we turn off the car, two women race out the front door. A second later, a man walks around the side of the house. The process of elimination is pretty quick; it’s her parents and her grandmother. The women hug and kiss and chatter, leaving me alone to greet Merit’s father. He’s wearing jeans and a dirty T-shirt with the company name on the pocket—Browning Sod Farm.

I remove my ballcap and tuck it in my back pocket. “Sir,” I immediately shake his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

He flicks his own ballcap up, giving himself a better view. “Ah, you must be the ball player.”

“Yes, sir. Holt Hill.”

“Well, Holt, I’m Deke Browning. And this,” he nods to his wife and mother, who both wrap me in hugs, “is my wife Marie and my mother, Gertie.”

“Ma’am.” I politely nod at them. “Pleasure to meet you both.” I look around at the property. “You have a beautiful home.”

Gertie speaks up. “My husband’s father built it. There was a small one-bedroom cottage they lived in for years after he bought the land.” She points to a section of yard, closer to the road. “Eventually, he built this house. Of course, Deke and Marie really outdid themselves with a remodel a few years ago.” She smiles at her son. “His daddy would’ve been proud of him.”

I nod, eagerly agreeing, “Yes, ma’am, absolutely.”

“Y’all made such good time. I’m so glad you’re here!” Marie reaches over, giving Merit another kiss on the cheek.

Deke clears his throat. “Girl, you don’t have a hug for your own father?” Laugh lines crinkle around his eyes.

Merit laughs loudly, snorting. “You’re the one ignoring me, old man.” She wraps her arms around her father, hugging him with all her might. Deke soothes her hair and kisses her forehead.

It’s beautiful.

I have to say…there’s definitely a special bond between fathers and daughters. On more than one occasion, I’ve been jealous of Raylee.

Irrational, I know.

“Well, come on in. Get settled.” Marie waves her hand at the house.

“Actually, we’ve got a couple of hours before the game comes on,” Deke says.

By ‘the game’, he means the team from where Merit went to college—the college in the town where we both live. My alma matter already played today. In fact, I tried to listen to the game on the drive down, but I found myself more interested in Merit’s constant stories.

Like I said, she was really excited.

He looks at me, lifting his eyebrows. “Feel like doing a few chores?”

“Deke! He’s our guest! You can’t put him to work.” Marie chides him.

I chuckle. “I don’t mind. Really. It’ll be good to stretch my legs after the drive.”

He looks me over. Luckily, I have on tennis shoes instead of flip flops. “You need to change?”

I look down at my blood-stained T-shirt. “No, sir. I’m good.”

Merit rolls her eyes and bounces over to me. “You don’t have to do chores, you know that, right?” She doesn’t bother to lower her voice, letting her dad hear what she says.

I love this Merit. The Merit comfortable in her own skin and her own surroundings.

My head tilts toward hers. I can’t help it. It’s like there’s a magnet drawing me to her. Constantly. Obsessively. I should back up, put some space between us. I suppose being this close to his daughter might be construed as a sign of disrespect.

But…it’s her own damn fault for being so irresistible.

“I reckon you’re worth a little hard work,” I whisper with a wink. My fingers tangle with hers, and I discreetly pinch her thigh. At least, I think it’s discreet. “And don’t try to carry the luggage, you’ll hurt yourself. I’ll unload everything after I get back. Okay?”

She nods, biting back a smile. “Whatever you say, sir ,” she whispers back, teasing me.

***

“So, you’re dating my daughter?”

I pick up two fifty-pound fertilizer bags from stacked pallets and lay them in the bed of a work truck. Nothing like slinging bagged manure for the woman you love. “Yes, sir. We’ve been dating for a little over a month.”

Deke moved a couple of bags himself, but now he’s content to lean on the truck and watch me. Size me up. And who can blame him? I’m dating his daughter.

Well, more than dating her.

In fact, I had my fingers inside of her again last night after the football game, making her writhe against me, making her come. She’s the sexiest little creature I’ve ever seen when she’s coming. And I can’t get enough of it. Her body, her moans. The way she tangles her fingers in my hair, pulling it almost to the point of pain. Just as promised, though, we are taking things slow. I haven’t even gone down on her yet. In fact, I’ve only finger-fucked her with her panties on , obsessively committing to memory what I can while I have her panties pushed to the side. It’s been fucking torture. Her pussy is pink and perfect and ripe. It smells like heaven, and what little bit of her I’ve licked from my fingers tastes like sugar and spice and fucking everything nice.

I also haven’t let her touch me. I want it. Trust me, I want it so fucking bad, I can’t see straight. But… I’m afraid I’ll lose control. I don’t want to move too fast, don’t want to scare her. She’s slept over just twice, last Friday and Saturday nights, and each time, when she was fast asleep, I snuck into the bathroom and jerked off until I was shooting nothing but sand.

“You gonna change her too?”

I wipe the sweat from my brow—even though it’s a losing battle—and balance my forearms on the back of the truck. “Pardon?”

His voice lowers. “He changed her.” He reworks the hat on his head. “You know from the minute Merit was born she was silly and loud and independent. And he changed all that. Before we even knew it, he had molded her into a completely different person. She was a shadow of her former self.” He looks down, and I hear him kick the dirt with his boot. “And he forced her to dress like some high-priced escort. I knew what he was doing. He wanted other men to envy him. He wanted to prance her around like a prized filly.”

I breathe through my nose, trying to calm the rage coursing through my body. Pictures of black mini-dresses flip through my brain. String bikinis and jewelry. Layers of makeup and stiletto heels. Visions of other men hitting on my woman make me sick to my stomach. Deke’s right. That’s exactly what Edward did, and I want to pummel his fucking face for it.

“So,” he cocks his head, “do you plan on changing her too?”

“No, sir, I don’t wanna change her. I wanna be the one who finds her.”

He stands straight, studying me for several long seconds. When he doesn’t say anything, I push off and grab another two bags. “Holy shit, you’re in love with her.”

My hand slips, and my thumb breaks the bag, sliding right into the rich, black dirt filled with shit. I toss the bag in the truck and wipe my hand across the front of my shirt.

Well, I guess there’s no point in lying to the man.

“Yes, sir, I am.”

“You tell her yet?”

That makes me laugh. “Definitely not. I just now got her to stop saying ‘I don’t date’ . I don’t think she’s ready for a conversation that heavy.”

“Smart man.” He shuts the tailgate of the truck.

I guess that means we’re done loading it.

His lips thin into a small line. “You know, it doesn’t matter whether or not you love her…you’re still sleeping in separate bedrooms when you’re under my roof.”

I nearly choke on my own spit. “Well, sir, you’ll be happy to know that the thing married people need a bed for? Yeah, that hasn’t happened with us.”

Yet.

Of course, I keep that last word to myself.

He waves his hand in the air, telling me to get in the truck. He tries to hide his smile, but there’s no way to miss it.

I just earned her daddy’s respect, and I smile right back.